TAXACE.E 73 



whorls of four, each with four pollen sacs. Female flowers in 

 pairs towards the base of the current year's shoot. Ovule com- 

 pletely covered with a fleshy aril-like coat, resembling a plum 

 or olive when ripe. Seed with a woody outer coat, the inner 

 layer irregularly folded into the kernel which appears like a nut- 

 meg in section. The species of Torreya resemble Cephalotaxus 

 in foliage but may easily be recognized by the sunken bands of 

 stomata on the lower surface of the leaves, which are distinctly 

 bristle-pointed. 



Wood yellowish, straight-grained, easy to work, durable, 

 usually strong ; used for furniture, cabinet work, and fence posts, 

 but not a general commercial timber. The seeds of one species 

 are edible and an oil used in cookery is obtained from them. 



In the warmer parts of Britain the Torreyas form useful ever- 

 greens for gardens or parks. They succeed in loamy or peaty 

 soil and compare in usefulness with the hardy species of Podo- 

 carpus. Cuttings of short side-shoots maybe rooted by inserting 

 them in sandy soil in a close frame in summer, but the best 

 method of propagation is by imported seeds. Specimens of T. 

 californica, T. grandis, and T. nucifera may be seen at Kew. 



Key to Torreya. 



I. Foliage aromatic when bruised ; shoots reddish or brown 

 in the second year. 



Leaves linear, 1^-3 in. long, J in. wide, glaucous beneath with 

 broad midrib and slightly depressed narrow stomatic 

 bands. — T. californica. 



Leaves lanceolate linear, |-1^ in. long. ^-J in. wide, green 

 beneath with deeply depressed stomatic bands. — T. nuci- 

 fera. 



II. Foliage not aromatic when bruised, shoots green in second 

 year. 



Leaves lanceolate-linear, .\-l in. long, -J in. wide, thinner in 

 texture than those of T. nucifera , but with similar stomatic 

 bands. — T. grandis. 



Torreya californica, Torrey. (Fig. 9.) 

 California Nutmeg. 



Torreya Myristica, Hooker. 



A tree up to 90 ft. high with a girth of 9 ft. in California but 

 usually much smaller and often only a shrub. Bark rather smooth 

 and thin. Wood and foliage aromatic. Young shoots without 

 down, green becoming brown in the second year. Buds prismatic, 

 acute, up to ^ in. long, with closely overlapping brown scales. 

 Leaves rigid, linear, 1|— 3 in. long, ^ in. wide, tapering to a spiny 



